Judge rejects Assange’s plea to drop UK arrest warrant

‘I am not persuaded the warrant should be withdrawn,’ Judge Emma Arbuthnot said

A British judge on Tuesday rejected a plea from lawyers representing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to drop an arrest warrant that has kept the controversial activist holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for more than five years.

“I am not persuaded the warrant should be withdrawn,” Judge Emma Arbuthnot said, according to The Associated Press.

Arbuthnot did not immediately agree to Assange’s lawyers’ request to hold another hearing on the matter, the AP reported.

Lawyers for Assange had argued that the warrant should be dropped because Assange is no longer wanted in Sweden, where police were previously investigating sexual assault and rape allegations against the WikiLeaks founder.